This Machine Stops Pipelines.

Many of you know that Congress recently passed a bill that would allow the Keystone XL pipeline to ship dangerous dirty tar sands oil across the heartland of America, to benefit the oil producers devastating the environment in Canada.

I was aware of the Keystone XL pipeline before I moved to Nebraska, but as a new Nebraskan, I want to add my voice to those opposing this pipeline. As a former city councilman and the former president of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust, I believe this project is not only bad for the environment but bad public policy.

Today, the Environmental Protection Agency issued comments on the State Department's Environmental Impact Report and I want to highlight the comments Bold Nebraska's Jane Kleeb made about the EPA's report:

“It is reassuring the EPA stands with farmers and ranchers who know the Sandhills are still crossed by this risky pipeline and that alternative routes were not given enough serious consideration. America is diversifying our energy sources with renewables and Keystone XL continues to be a step backwards and simply does not make sense given low oil prices and the high carbon content of tarsands.”

The EPA comments criticized the State Department's environmental analysis for not looking at alternatives that would have avoided environmentally sensitive areas including the Nebraska Sandhills and the Ogallala aquifer.

The EPA's letter also said that the proposed pipeline would significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions to the level of "5.7 million passenger vehicles or 7.8 coal fired power plants per year."

In addition to the EPA's comments today, yesterday the Harvard Business Review published an article questioning the economics behind the proposed pipeline:

"In the short run, with oil at $50 per barrel, Keystone will connect refineries to oil that may be unprofitable to extract. In the long run, as the world turns away from fossil fuels aggressively, the pipeline will be moot — a relic of the past. Either way it’s a poor investment."

The Keystone XL pipeline proposal boils down to using the infrastucture of the past to move the wasteful energy of the past.

Tar sands oil is the dirtiest and most environmentally destructive form of oil extraction. Shipping it across pristine areas of the great plains is foolhardy because of the danger to the natural environment and the Ogallala aquifer.

And it really doesn't make much business sense, as our nation and the world moves to alternative energy sources, which become more and more economical with each passing day.

Want to help Bold Nebraska stop the pipeline? Click through and with a small donation ($3) send a veto pen to President Obama. "This machine stops pipelines."